PM: Thailand needs new infrastructure investment

KHON KAEN, THAILAND, October 26 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has reiterated that her government-sponsored new mega infrastructure investment projects, mostly in the transport sector, will not only provide convenience to people in travelling, but they will also spread development and narrow the gap between the rich and the poor in Thailand. Yingluck acknowledged, while attending an exhibition on transportation infrastructure development in the northeastern Khon Kaen Province on Saturday (Oct 26), that Khon Kaen will become a major agricultural products processing centre after the projects are complete, as the new mega projects will help connect Khon Kaen with several other lower northeastern Thai provinces, including Maha Sarakham, Kalasin and Roi Et, as well as with other provinces. Yingluck insisted that her government wants to raise the standard of living of Thai people and boost the country’s competitiveness through the new mega infrastructure development plans over the next seven years. According to the prime minister, the new 2.2 trillion-baht investment plans will also connect Thailand with other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and make the Kingdom the 10-member bloc centre over the next seven years. (TNA)